Anyone have an XZ-2

[bobatkins]

<p>Anyone have an XZ-2? </p>

<p>I'm currently reviewing it and having no luck at all getting it to bracket shots in the "Art Filter" mode. Yes, it's supposed to. The manual (online) says it does and there's an "Art Mode" setting in the bracketing menu, but it just doesn't seem to do anything.</p>

<p>I do have a slightly pre-production firmware (1.0) on the review camera, so that may be the issue. Anyone have the officially released version?</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>This is just a wild guess, but...<br>

...with the Ricoh GRD4 some of that camera's equivalents to the Olympus art filters are available only in JPEG and only when certain other features are disabled. For example, the Hi-Contrast B&W mode is disabled when: the GRD4 is set to continuous shooting mode; and when the camera is set to record raw/JPEG simultaneously. Custom image setting ("art filter") bracketing is available only in JPEG mode in the GRD4, and only with continuous shooting mode disabled.</p>

<p>There's a hodge-podge of other oddities and conditions under which the little Ricoh will or won't work, all documented in tiny fine print in footnotes or elsewhere in the manual. It can be exasperating to figure it all out.</p>

<p>Not sure whether the XZ-2 may have similar conditional go/no-go features. I read some user comments about it this year but none mentioned the specific glitch you've encountered.</p>

[leslie_cheung]

<p>I have no idea with the XZ1/2 but on my pen (EPL3)...</p>

<p>Menu2>>>Bracketing>>>Art Bkt>>>On>>><br /> pick and choose your selection(s) of art filters. You can choose various and cancel out ones of no interest to you. There may be other ways of going about...</p>

<p>How's the XZ2 AF/lag, Bob?</p>

<p>PS. you don't actually go to the ART mode on the mode dial. I just use A then bracket the desired filters via the menu...</p>

<p> </p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I was using single shot and JPEG just in case it was picky! I figured that's about the most basic steup, so if it won't work there it probably won't work anywhere! I've been caught out before with other cameras that wouldn't do certain things when in RAW mode.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Menu2>>>Bracketing>>>Art Bkt>>>On>>><br />pick and choose your selection(s) of art filters. You can choose various and cancel out ones of no interest to you. There may be other ways of going about...<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yup, same on the XZ-2. Tried both in Art mode and in A mode choosing art filters. I still don't seem to get more than 1 shot taken or processed (I assume it's supposed to take one shot then apply different levels of the selected "art filter" to that shot and save the results as separate images?).<br>

<br>

AF seems pretty good. Total round trip (close-infinity-close) around 0.5 seconds. Average AF time probably around 0.2 seconds. Nothing really to complain about. Most of the time you don't really notice any AF lag.<br>

<br>

As I said, this is a production body, but with v1.0 pre-shipment firmware, so that could have something to do with the art filter issue. Can't seem to find any online firmware downloads. I guess if the firmware was tweaked before official shipment of the cameras, all the production models would already have it installed.<br>

<br>

I'd guess the review will be posted here within a week or so. It's probably about 90% done now.</p>

<p> </p>

[machts gut]

<p>Don't know the XZ-2 but my E-LP 1 (admittedly an older modell) processes files with ART filter really slow. I prefer to shoot RAW and apply the ART filter useing the Oly software in pp. This is the only reason I have the software on my computer (maybe apart from updateing the system). This way it's also easier to bracket shots.</p>

[Greg M]

That's definitely the way to do it. Bracket in raw and apply the art filter in Viewer. If you shoot raw+jpeg I would think it

would work since you have a jpeg file in the mix, but if you shoot raw only the only program I know of where you'd see the

filter applied on opening in a computer is Olympus Viewer.

 

Art filters are jpeg applications with Olympus cameras, just like files shot using black & white color modes captured always open in color when using third-party programs like Photoshop.

[Greg M]

Above I meant raw files captured using black & white color mode. Obviously, if you captured it shooting jpeg it will come

out black & white.

[bobatkins]

<p>I appreciate the limited utility of art filter bracketing, but when I'm reviewing a camera I like to make sure all the listed features work!</p>

<p>Right now I'm putting the problems down to buggy pre-release firmware. I'll see if I can get any comment from Olympus or if they can send me a firmware update to match that of cameras currently being shipped.</p>

[bruce_rubenstein]

<p>Olympus firmware updates are done via either their Viewer 2 or Camera Updater software. The camera is connected to the computer, the software goes out to the server downloads the firmware to a temp file and then updates the firmware in the camera and/or lens. I don't even know if there is any way to update the firmware directly from a file on a memory card or a PC outside of an Olympus service department.</p>

[Greg M]

<p>You are right, Bob. Reviewing the file on the camera's back LCD after shooting, it should be applying the filter. Just when you downloaded the raw file and open up in a third-party program would it not be applied to the raw file.</p>

<p>Then again, maybe in the case of the XZ-2 the manual was incorrect. Olympus manuals are either (1) written extremely poorly, or (2) translated from Japanese to English by someone who speaks Japanese, but not English. They have really be bad for a while now.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I figured it out!</p>

<p>I'd assumed bracketing would be similar to my EPL-1 but it's not. On the EPL-1 you have drive choices of single shot, continuous and the timer modes. On the XZ-2 there is a special "Bracket" <strong>drive mode. </strong>So to get bracketing you first have to go into the menu structure and select the type of bracketing that you want, set up the bracketing parameters, <strong>then</strong> you have to go back to shooting mode and select the "bracket" drive mode.</p>

<p>I'd assumed that you'd get bracketing in one of the normal drive modes. I guess I wasn't expecting a bracketing drive mode since no other camera I've ever used has one, so I didn't see it lurking in the menu. I think all the other cameras I've used automatically bracket in either single shot or continuous mode.</p>

<p>Works just fine if you follow the right procedure!</p>

[bruce_rubenstein]

<p>So you need a PhD to use that thing, eh?</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>Mine didn't help much...a decent manual would probably help, though I suspect a "how to find all the features of your XZ-2" book would be an even better solution.</p>

<p>Once you have it figured out and written down, it's OK. Which is a bit like saying once you've figured out all the possible moves in chess, playing the game is easy. There is an "Olympus PEN E-PL1 for Dummies" book. Maybe someone will write an XZ-2 version?</p>

<p>Of course being a diehard Canon user, it may just be my unfamiliarity with Olympus' way of doing things. However in quite a few reviews of recent Olympus gear, comments have been made on the less than obvious menu system. There is stuff that should be there by default (like the Super Control Panel) that's enabled by an option that is, if I may quote, "i<em>n the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying </em><strong><em>'Beware of the Leopard</em></strong>"</p>

<h1 > </h1>

[bobatkins]

<p>Update: The advertising copy for the XZ-2 says it has a "4x optical/4x digital" zoom, but for the life of me I can't find a way to activate any 4x digital zoom feature. It's not documented in the manual as far as I can tell. I did find, deeply hidden in a basement level submenu, a way to assign the Fn1 button to 2x digital teleconverter, but that's a fixed 2x, not a 4x zoom.</p>

<p>When you zoom the zoom bar goes from 1x to 4x and stops. Attempts at further zooming do not appear to activate a digital zoom, at least not in any normal mode setting. I didn't try underwater color with the far left AF point, resolution set to medium/fine and the camera held on its side, nor did I try magic spells. Perhaps it only works when the moon is full and the month has an "r" in it?</p>

<p>If anyone has the secret hint book to the "Find the Functions" game, could they give me a clue how to find the 4x zoom. Or maybe it's a copy error and there isn't one?</p>

[bruce_rubenstein]

<p>Your diligence is commendable. You may be the only one who has ever attempted to verify operation of every feature. I have two PEN's, a XZ-1 and an OM-D and Olympus puts some menu settings in very non-obvious places. I also think many camera "features" are answers to problems that nobody asked.</p>

<p>I am interested in reading your review. I find the ZX-1 to have an excellent lens, but a very second rate sensor. In the end, I think the ZX-2 is too close in price to the RX100 for Olympus to sell many of them. The ZX-1 that I bought last month for $199 was a good value. I'll probably wait for a clearance sale on the ZX-2.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I'm not sure it's possible to verify every feature on the XZ-2. I'm not even sure it's possible to find them all. If you have everything possible enabled, the operation of the camera gets pretty complex with repeated button pushes bringing up new features all the time. I guess that's one of the costs of high configurability. You spend more time trying to get the camera into the mode you want than actually taking pictures. "Point and Shoot" pretty much goes out of the window. </p>

<p>I think all my compact digitals have been bought either as refurbished units or on closeout sale after a new model has been announced. In fact my PEN E-PL1 was bought that way as well as my Canon G12. I even bought my EOS 7D refurbished. The ZX-1 for $199 sounds like a great bargain. Even with the current $50 rebate the ZX-2 is $549. </p>

<p>One thing the XZ-2 has going for it is that it takes the Olympus flash units and can control them wirelessly from the built in flash, plus it takes the electronic viewfinders that also fit the PEN series. So if you've an investment in other Olympus gear, the XZ-2 lets you take advantage of it. If you buy an RX100, you have a slower lens, no viewfinder option and I don't think you can mount an external flash on it. You probably get higher image quality though, due to the larger sensor. But then if that's what you want, there's the Powershot G1x with an even bigger sensor, though it's tougher to get in your pocket.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I'm not sure it's possible to verify every feature on the XZ-2. I'm not even sure it's possible to find them all. If you have everything possible enabled, the operation of the camera gets pretty complex with repeated button pushes bringing up new features all the time. I guess that's one of the costs of high configurability. You spend more time trying to get the camera into the mode you want than actually taking pictures. "Point and Shoot" pretty much goes out of the window. </p>

<p>I think all my compact digitals have been bought either as refurbished units or on closeout sale after a new model has been announced. In fact my PEN E-PL1 was bought that way as well as my Canon G12. I even bought my EOS 7D refurbished. The ZX-1 for $199 sounds like a great bargain. Even with the current $50 rebate the ZX-2 is $549. </p>

<p>One thing the XZ-2 has going for it is that it takes the Olympus flash units and can control them wirelessly from the built in flash, plus it takes the electronic viewfinders that also fit the PEN series. So if you've an investment in other Olympus gear, the XZ-2 lets you take advantage of it. If you buy an RX100, you have a slower lens, no viewfinder option and I don't think you can mount an external flash on it. You probably get higher image quality though, due to the larger sensor. But then if that's what you want, there's the Powershot G1x with an even bigger sensor, though it's tougher to get in your pocket.</p>

[bob_king2]

<p>Hmm, I shoot RAW a lot on my m4/3 bodies and the art filters can be applied in PP using Oly's software. My E-PL2 wouldn't let me apply art filters in RAW while shooting so I just do it afterwards. It also allows the original image to remain untouched in case you don't like the art filter later down the track. I made that mistake when I first got my E-PL2... How big is the XZ-2 compared with the E-PM1? That's my go-to compact cam with the Panny 14mm f/2.5.</p>

<p>Cheers. Bob</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>Well the E-PM1 body is 109.5 x 63.7 x34mm and the XZ-2 is 113 x 65 x 48 mm, so the XZ-2 is a little thicker - but it has a 28-112mm (equiv) lens built in. The 14/2.5 is about 20mm deep, so with that on the E-PM1 it would be thicker than the XZ-2. The XZ-2 is also faster (f1.8 vs f2.4) at the same wideangle setting (=28mm full frame).<br>

<br>

</p>

[bob_king2]

<p>It would be interesting to see how the IQ of the XZ-2 compares with the Oly Pens.</p>

<p>Cheers, Bob</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I'm sure it's not as good. The sensor of the PEN series cameras is so much larger (at least 5x the area) that it has a large advantage at higher ISO setting. If you stay down at low ISO (say under ISO 400), then the two might be close (depending on which lens you had on the PEN).</p>

<p>BTW the review is now in the queue for publication. When it appears depends on what else is in there with it (which Josh deals with, not me).</p>